Guinea flattens shanty town to combat Ebola spread

Euronews

Authorities in Guinea are taking radical action to fight the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.

Security forces in Conakry, the capital of the west African state, have demolished a shantytown following the declaration of a public health state of emergency.

It comes after President Alpha Conde said cleanliness was key to fighting the outbreak that has killed more than 1,000 people in three countries across the region.

Conakry is considered to be one of the dirtiest cities in West Africa, due, in part, to a lack of education amongst its residents and a political divide that has resulted in rubbish being dumped on the streets.

In the centre of the city massive piles of rubbish sit by huge puddles of sewage water made deeper by the rain.

The demolition of the shantytown left many people homeless and brought an angry reaction. “What they are doing to us is not good. We are Guinean, we are not foreigners here. Why all this? Because of Ebola? Leave us so that Ebola can kill us, but don’t move us from here,” cried one man as his home was torn down.

An estimated 377 people have died in Guinea since the world’s worst outbreak of Ebola began in March.

Guinea has said its outbreak is now under control, but that new measures are needed to prevent further infection from other countries at the centre of the epidemic.